All about loads, fees, commissions, and MERs When it comes to investment funds, fees and costs can be both complicated and contentious. What’s the difference between an MER and a front-end load? Are fund commissions deductible? What are trailer fees? To help clear up...
Or should you be even more cautious? Canadian bonds have been on a tear these past few weeks. Yes, bond prices climb as yields fall, and the Bank of Canada’s surprise interest rate cut on Jan. 14 helped goose Canadian bond prices. In fact, a good proxy for the...
How to resist the urge to splurge Do you spend every single last dime of what you make – and then some? Don’t know? You’re not alone. In these days of easy credit, it’s all too easy to blur that line between your income and your expenses. This becomes a real problem...
Practical strategies for debt relief If there’s any one item that will suck the life right out of your bank account, shred your budget, and seriously damage your long-term savings goals, it’s debt. And the worst kind of debt is credit card debt. With annual rates of...
What you need to know for RRSP success Should you contribute to a Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs)? With Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) becoming more popular, there’s a fierce debate among the experts on the relative merits of each type of account. True,...
Don’t set impossible financial goals The New Year is a great time for making resolutions and for taking control of your finances. Easy to say, but not so easy to do! When you resolve something vague like, “I promise to spend less in 2015,” that’s a resolution that...
The steep ‘peace-of-mind’ premium Both mutual funds and segregated funds provide investors the opportunity to invest in stocks and bonds managed by a professional money manager. The managers of both mutual funds and segregated funds look to invest the funds...
The remedy for financial overindulgence Every year around this time, I’m asked how to overcome the seasonal spending disorder that grips a large part of the population. But there is a remedy, and it doesn’t involve laborious budgets and daily penny-counting. Instead,...
Periodic volatility means opportunity I wish they’d make up their minds, don’t you? To listen to assorted talking heads in the business media, you’d think that the current slump in crude oil prices to around US$60 per barrel is something just short of the end of the...
Year-end strategies to cut your tax bill During the hectic holiday season, the last thing you want to think about is your tax bill for the year. But there are a few year-end tax tips that could save you a few bucks in tax come next April. Here are some of my...
Why they’re important to your financial health Your investment portfolio isn’t carved in stone. These days it’s most likely saved in a digital file somewhere. Every month, you should be receiving an itemized statement of what’s in that digital file as of the close of...
Robyn Thompson is regularly featured in The Toronto Star’s “Money Makeover” series by Deanne Gage. In this recent post, Robyn recommends that a high-income 70-year-old retiree curt the risk in her investment portfolio and realign her income stream to make it more tax...